Violets
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Veilchenastrild ( Uraeginthus ianthinogaster ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Uraeginthus ianthinogaster | ||||||||||||
| Reichenow , 1879 |
The violet tiger ( Uraeginthus ianthinogaster ), also called violet- bellied tiger , purple garnet tiger or blue-bellied garnet tiger , is an East African species from the finch family .
The systematic classification of this species has not yet been finally clarified. The IUCN assigns this species to the Blauastrilden ( Uraeginthus ); Jürgen Nicolai and Joachim Steinbacher on the other hand, this type provide, together with the Violet-Eared Waxbill in the genre Grana Tina . Here the classification of the IUCN followed. In older literature and on Avibase , four subspecies for the violet tiger are described in addition to the nominate form . The great individual variation within the different populations makes the delimitation of well-founded taxonomic units extremely difficult.
features
Violet trildes reach a body length of about 13.5 centimeters. The male is mostly reddish brown on top. Above all, the rear head, the rear neck and the sides of the neck stand out from the rest of the plumage due to their reddish-brown to rust-colored coloring. The tail is black. The upper tail covers are deep blue. The rump , the belly and the facial markings are blue and the dark circles are red.
In the female, the back is brown, the underside lighter in color. The chest is spotted yellow-brown. The tail is blue. There is a light blue line above and below the eye. In contrast to the male, the edge of the eyelid is not red, but whitish, pale purple or bluish. The skull, the back of the neck and the sides of the neck are paler red-brown than in the male. Both sexes have red beaks. Legs and feet are blackish.
The young bird has a dark, blackish beak and plumage in warm brown tones with blue upper tail covers. The Schanz is otherwise black. As with the pomegranate deer , young birds moult their head plumage very early.
In flight the bird calls softly and indistinctly. Like the dark red amaranth , the violet tiger has a trilling contact call that is missing in the closely related garnet tiger. In contrast, the alarm call is very similar to that of the garnet streak. Veilchenastrilde also have two very different chants. With nine sonorous, widely audible tones, Veilchenastrilde call for the absent partner. The other chant is a trill chant with softly whirring notes.
Occurrence and way of life
The violet deer occurs in East Africa from the extreme south-east of Sudan through southern Ethiopia and northern Somalia to northeast Uganda and via Kenya to northeast Tanzania.
The Veilchenastrild inhabits arid bush landscapes, savannahs and light forests. In Somalia he lives at altitudes between 900 and 1600 meters above sea level. In Kenya, the violet streak occurs mainly at altitudes below 2000 meters. He is considered a resident bird.
Violet trildes are shy birds that usually stay near a shelter. They usually live in small flocks or family groups, occasionally in association with other smaller grain-eaters.
It feeds on grass seeds as well as the seeds of other herbaceous plants. It also eats buds and insects, especially termites during the breeding season.
Reproduction
The breeding time varies depending on the area of distribution. In Somalia, for example, it falls in June. In Tanzania, on the other hand, violet tribes breed from December to February.
Like the other blue tassels, violet tassels show a halmbalz. It is usually performed on the floor. The male has the main responsibility for building the nest. However, both sexes are involved in building the nest. It is noticeable that the male continues to bring in feathers even after the nest has been completed. The spherical nest with side entrance is built in a low bush or tree from blades of grass and other vegetable materials and is thickly padded with feathers.
Both parents, but especially the female, incubate the three to five eggs for about two weeks. Together they feed the chicks . The diet of the young birds consists first of soft insects, then soft seeds. Before leaving the country at around three weeks, the diet is switched to harder, ripe seeds.
The breeding parasite of the violet tiger is the straw widow .
attitude
Veilchenastrilde were already imported to Germany and England in 1928 and 1933, but they have only been regularly available in bird shops since the 1960s. The first breeding took place in England in 1957. However, offspring are still relatively rare. As a territorial species, the males can become aggressive during the breeding season. They can therefore only be kept in a community aviary outside of the breeding season.
supporting documents
literature
- Colin Harrison, Alan Greensmith: Birds. Dorling Kindersly Limited, London 1993, 2000, ISBN 3-8310-0785-3 .
- Jürgen Nicolai (Ed.), Joachim Steinbacher (Ed.), Renate van den Elzen, Gerhard Hofmann, Claudia Mettke-Hofmann: Prachtfinken - Afrika. In: Handbook of bird care. Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8001-4964-3 .
- Bryan Richard: Birds. Parragon, Bath, ISBN 1-4054-5506-3 .
- Terry Stevenson, John Fanshawe: Princeton Field Guides - Birds of East Africa. Princeton / Oxford, 2002, ISBN 0-691-12665-8 .
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Uraeginthus ianthinogaster in the Internet Bird Collection
- Uraeginthus ianthinogaster at Avibase
- Granatina ianthinogaster inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 204.
- ↑ BirdLife Factsheet , accessed June 16, 2006.
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 205.
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 206.